What Does Matthew 7:28 Mean?
And it came to pass, when Jesus finished these words, that the crowds were struck out of themselves at his teaching.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:THE KEY
The word translated “astonished” pictures Jesus’ teaching striking the hearers out of their settled frame.
THE MEANING
As these sayings close in your hearing, the people are struck by Jesus’ teaching, and you stand among them. The words land with force, meeting the hearer as more than detached ideas to consider from a distance.
THE ROOT
ἐξεπλήσσοντο
exeplēssonto
GROWS FROM
πλησσ (plēss; with a πληγ / plēg variant)
strike, smite
“struck out of themselves” in this verse is exeplēssonto. The verb ἐκπλήσσω joins ἐκ (out) with πλήσσω (strike): astonishment is pictured as being struck out of composure. English can make the reaction sound like mere surprise; the Greek carries the force of an impact.
ALSO GROWS
plēssō: to strike, smite
πλήσσω
This base verb makes the force within “astonished” audible.
plēgē: a blow, stroke
πληγή
This related noun keeps the image of a felt impact close to the hearers’ response.
διδαχή
didachē
GROWS FROM
διδασκ
didask
teach, instruct
The Greek word names teaching as something given and received, not only a fixed set of propositions. Beside the striking force of ἐκπλήσσω, it shows that the hearers are moved by the teaching itself.
ALSO GROWS
didaskō: to teach
διδάσκω
The verb names the act at the heart of διδαχή.
didaskalos: teacher
διδάσκαλος
This related word links the teaching to the one who teaches it.
THE PATTERN
A word carrying authority acts on the hearer, striking, searching, and laying open what passive information leaves untouched.
Is not my word like fire? says the LORD; and like a hammer that shatters the rock?And they were struck out of themselves by his teaching, for his word was with authority.For the word of God is living and working, and sharper than any two-edged sword, reaching through even to the dividing of living soul and breath, of joints and marrow, and it separates the inward movements and thoughts of the heart.THE THREAD
And they were struck out of themselves by his teaching, for his word was with authority.Luke uses the same Greek word for “astonished” and the same word for “doctrine,” then states the reason: Jesus’ word is with power. What Matthew shows as a striking response, Luke connects directly to the force of the word.
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